STORM WARNING!!!!!

[Panteg Produce]

It's already very windy here in South West Wales and to cap it all I have to drive to Haverford west in Pembrokeshire for work in the morning!. An hour and 5 minute drive at the best of times , I suspect it may take a bit longer tomorrow.

[Mo]

I'm trying to get my apples in while they are still on the branches.



no, I'm not sitting here wasting time

Well if I am it's OH's fault for making tea.

[Mo]

In the North West its a yellow warning "be aware"

The new Met Office website is good for warnings, thanks for the link that led to it.

I usually get my forecast from which gives it for your postcode (taking account of height)

Browsing that met office site I was relieved to learn that in the Peak District at least there is no risk from Strong Sunlight!

[chookmike]

What's my height got to do with it Mo?

I can be a bit touchy about it (typical short rrrr's)

Pressure gone up again and the lightest of breezes

Cheers

[wendy]

My sister came to us for the weekend, going home Monday morning.
But as the forecast wasn't great I took her home today, as she has a hospital appointment tomorrow.
She live in Blackwater, Surrey. It was quite pleasant with a mild wind and no rain. Got back here and the wind is building up and loads of rain. Hopefully she will miss it. Hatches have been battened down

[KathJ]

Good Luck everyone We've tidied away or battened down everything we could and just hope for the best We've got a massive oak tree at the bottom of our garden and the way the winds blowing we're just praying it manages to blow through the branches!! It's been pretty windy here in Cheshire most of the day. We could have done with little weights around our girls feet as the wind blew them along a little when they were out and about We decided to put them in their run a bit earlier today as we thought they'd be safer. Let's hope everything's still standing for everyone in the morning.

[Kuikentje]

We were in Oxfordshire in 1987 but having previously lived on Anglesey we didn't notice anything and were quite surprised when we came out next day to see trees down. I had observed that the barometer wouldn't go any further down but I assumed it was broken, and was quite upset because it had been a wedding present.

I do think these warnings are way overdone, as is every health & safety thing these days. However I don't want to be too critical in case I have to eat my words tomorrow. I just think that they wouldn't have made half as much fuss if we in North Wales, or people in Scotland, had been in the path of the storm.

It was very windy this afternoon but has all settled down again for now.

[Kuikentje]

We could have done with little weights around our girls feet as the wind blew them along a little when they were out and about We decided to put them in their run a bit earlier today as we thought they'd be safer. Let's hope everything's still standing for everyone in the morning.

My girls were very noisy most of the day, as I said in the diary, and didn't really want to free-range today, which is unusual. When I moved them back from their moveable run to their fixed run they couldn't wait to get back in.

[Kuikentje]

Mo, that's a useful link, but I find this statement a bit worrying:

This warning has been updated to bring forward the end time.

[urbanchicks]

It's true what they say Calm before a storm, today has been very windy here but now it is so calm and fairly warm, scary, I think I am going to stay up tonight if i can, i have the cattery to worry about,the chickens will be fine as they are in a sturdy pen,even if the Walk-in-Run roof goes they will be safe,but the cattery i am worried about,i have 17 pens and 14 guests at the moment,this is the first time I have worried about heavy winds.

Maggie

[thebunster]

I didn't want to take any chances, so my girls are now snuggled up in cardboard boxes in the kitchen for the night.

I will sleep much better now - if the wind and rain let me, that is!

[chookmike]

Wow, pressure dropped to 920 so here we go. Must hit the sack to be up with a torch at 5

Mike

[jackian]

6.45 am and the winds are really strong ..Stronger than I have seen for years . .and the wood at the bottom of my garden is really struggling with huge beech trees etc., all nearly bent in half it seems.(far enough away)
The Walk-in-Run has survived the night but one large sheet of corregated plastic looking a bit dodgy but I think it will survive. If it does go I think it will go into the greenhouse
Which is away from the chickens area altogether..
I debated with my inner conscience if I should let them out of the run but decided to let them out as the patio where they spend most of their time is sheltered .That way at least they stand a chance to escape.
It is not until you get an occasion like this that you can test your set up ready for the winter so now I at least know that there is one spot on their roof that needs securing . Hopefully it will last the day and we can secure it at the weekend .

[ChickenCarol]

The high wind part of the storm lasted from 6.30 am to 7.00 am. I went out to the chooks at 6.45 am and by 7.00 am as I finished my morning chores all was calm again. As Jackie said it tested our set up and I am glad to say that there is no damage. Last year we put clear plastic sheet over the top of the garden part of the run in the winter and I know that would have blown off. Luckily this year we decided to make a better job of it and put the plastic sheet inside, under the mesh roof and secured it with lots of wooden batons. This worked well and everything is still in place. I am so relieved! Hope everyone has survived this okay.

[aishakali]

I couldn't sleep so got up at 4.30 and took a torch to the girls. All as it should be and not even their water had blown over So glad I got oh to put another sheet of heavy duty plastic over the front of the run